The U of M Philosophy department is committed to providing a welcoming and enriching environment for all of it students. As an expression of this commitment, the Philosophy department has also made a commitment to diversity.

During the 1996-97 academic year, the department created a Department Council Diversity Committee. It is the charge of this committee to investigate and recommend activities and policies that will increase the diversity of the department's curriculum, faculty, and graduate student body.

Further, the chair of the Diversity Committee serves as a liaison officer to graduate students. The duties of the liaison officer include hearing the concerns of, and offering information on resources and contacts for, graduate students. The current chair of the Diversity Committee is Professor Naomi Scheman <http://www.philosophy.umn.edu/people/faculty/scheman.html>.

In addition, the department has connections of strength via graduate students and faculty, that are supportive of diversity within the department and the university, with various University organizations, such as the Center for Advanced Feminist Studies <http://www.cla.umn.edu/cafs/>, the MacArthur Program <http://www.icgc.umn.edu/>, and the Afro-American and African Studies Department <http://www1.umn.edu/afroam.

Through the efforts of the department, and individual faculty members and graduate students, a supportive and enriching academic environment exists in the Philosophy department for students interested in pursuing scholarship germane to difference and diversity within the discipline of philosophy.